Neuroscience 1014
Neuroscience 2014/Clinical Research 2014
Speaking of Science
Syllabus
Instructor:
Office:
Office hours:
Email:
Judy L. Cameron, Ph.D.
321 Loeffler
TBA
jcameron@pitt.edu
Course Description
You will learn strategies for giving presentations about science to both a scientific audience and
a public audience. Topics covered will include (1) how to engage your audience, (2) the art of
breaking down your message, (3) tips for how to make clear, interesting slides, and (4) pointers
on presentation style. All audiences want to learn interesting new scientific information—and
have it delivered as a good story in an understandable manner by a personable, easy to
approach person. You want to emphasize your message, stay focused, and convey the
importance of your message while being interesting, maintaining the attention of the audience
and making the learning process enjoyable. Guest speakers will provide background information
about various uses of scientific information in the public domain. Communication skills, including
knowing your audience and why they are interested in the information you are speaking about,
how to translate scientific jargon into understandable concepts for the public, and how to keep
the audience engaged will be discussed. Pointers will be given on answering questions, being
conversational, and conveying the ‘big picture’. Students will give a number of presentations in
this course and learn to receive and give feedback effectively.
Course Design and Grading
Course design:
• The course will be taught on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30-2:50 PM in room A202
Langley Hall. Students are expected to attend all classes. Lectures will focus on identification
and demonstration of principles that are key to presenting an interesting, engaging scientific
lecture that provides adequate factual information to convey concepts but does not overwhelm a
general audience.
• Learning to speak well requires significant individual attention. To help each student
individually, students will be scheduled to meet with the course instructors during office hours at
least 3 times during the semester.
• Over the semester students will make two presentations to the class. The third presentation that
each student will make during the semester will be a public presentation to a school class,
community group, or another public group. This will be arranged in consultation with Dr.
Cameron. One option for the third presentation is a “Brain-in-the-Box” lecture (see description
below). However, students can chose other public presentations to give as their public lecture.
Third presentations will be made by pairs of students. Students are expected to work together on
their third presentation and to meet together with Dr. Cameron or Dr. Sved to review their third
presentation.
Brain-In-A-Box Lecture for Junior High and High School
This lecture is an interesting, audience-engaged look at the basic principles of brain function. It
covers the general structure of the brain and how different regions play different roles, how brain
scanning can be used to look at what roles different brain regions play, the structure of neurons
(the building blocks of the brain), and how neurons connect and form functional circuits in the
brain. The lecture is designed to be given in a standard class period, the slides that are shown
during the lecture are colorful and interesting to this age group and focus on how clinical studies
can now assess what is going on in the brain. Hands on activities accompany the lecture to
keep the students engaged.
• At the beginning of the semester students will have two homework assignments where they
review TED talks at www.TED.com. The talks that can be reviewed for this class are:
Sabstian Seung: I am my connectome
Antonio Damasio: The quest to understand consciousness
Allan Jones: A map of the brain
Ed Boyden: A light switch for neurons
Elliot Krane: The mystery of chronic pain
Christopher deCharms looks inside the brain
Michael Merzenich on re-wiring the brain
• To allow adequate time for individual meetings and public presentations there will be no class
scheduled on some regularly scheduled class days, as indicated, during the semester.
Reading Assignments:
Readings will be provided from a new book authored by Dr. Cameron entitled ‘Communicating
Science: Speaking of Science’. Chapters will be posted on courseweb.
Grading will be calculated as follows:
Class Participation in General Discussions: 20%
Students are expected to contribute at all class sessions to the discussion regarding key
concepts for presenting an interesting, engaging scientific lecture. Student ideas will be
solicited. Students are expected to help each other prepare presentations by providing
feedback.
Homework: 20%
Homework assignments will involve watching lectures available on the web or given in
class and providing a written critique regarding the strong and weak aspects of the
lecture. Students are expected to turn in reviews of two TED talks and all first and second
presentations given in class. Feedback on reviews will be provided by course instructors
for (1) the two TED talks, (2) one set of reviews of presentation 1, and (3) one set of
reviews of presentation 2. Feedback on reviews will be provided by another student for (4)
one set of reviews of presentation 1, and (5) one set of reviews of presentation 2.
Presentation 1: 10%
For the first presentation, students will be asked to make a 10-minute presentation and
conduct a 5-minute question/answer session on a scientific paper of their choice. They
should target their presentation to an audience with a good scientific background. They
will choose a paper and within a small student group they will discuss their presentation
plan and get student feedback. They will meet with Dr. Cameron individually during office
hours to receive further feedback prior to presentation. Grading will focus on how well the
presentation takes into account the principles learned in class.
Presentation 2: 20%
For the second presentation, students will be asked to make a 10-minute presentation and
conduct a 5-minute question/answer session on a scientific paper of their choice. They
should target their presentation to an audience with little to no scientific background. They
will choose a paper and within a small student group they will discuss their presentation
plan and get student feedback. They will meet with Dr. Cameron individually during office
hours to receive further feedback prior to presentation. Grading will focus on how well the
presentation takes into account the principles learned in class.
Outside Presentation 3: 20%
For the third presentation, students will be asked to give a public talk about science.
Examples of presentations would be giving a lecture to a high school science class,
running a lab on the University of Pittsburgh Mobile Science Lab, or giving a presentation
on a scientific topic of interest to a community group. Public presentations will be made in
consultation with Dr. Cameron. Students will get advice from a small student group on
their presentation and they will meet with Dr. Cameron individually during office hours to
receive further guidance prior to their presentation. Feedback from the presentation and
use of principles learned in class will be considered in grading.
Final Exam: 10%
The final exam will focus on the concepts regarding presentation of a clear, interesting,
engaging lecture that are discussed in class and those reviewed in the Media Manual.
The course can be taken for a letter grade or P/F. Homework can be turned in late, however a
point will be deducted for each day the homework is late.
Course Faculty
Judy L. Cameron, Ph.D.
Course Director
Professor of Psychiatry
Director, CTSI Outreach Program
University of Pittsburgh
Email: jcameron@pitt.edu
Alan Sved, Ph.D.
Course Co-Director
Chair and Professor of Neuroscience
University of Pittsburgh
Email: sved@pitt.edu
Tim McMurray, M.Ed.
Mobile Science Lab Education Facilitator
University of Pittsburgh
Email: IAA10@pitt.edu
Lisa Barsom, Ph.D.
Executive Director for Strategic Initiatives
University of Pittsburgh
Email: blisa@pmhsf.org
Course Schedule
Monday, Aug. 27
• Introduction to course
• Basic principles in providing a clear, interesting
scientific talk
• Reading – Speaking of Science: Chapter 1
Wednesday, Aug. 29
• Basic principles in providing a clear, interesting
scientific talk
• Reading – Speaking of Science: Chapter 2
Wednesday, Sept. 5
• Example of a General Science Talk by Dr. Cameron
• Review of Dr. Cameron’s talk
• Homework – Chose paper for first presentation (due
Friday, Sept. 7)
• Arrange individual meetings with course instructor –
to review plans for Presentation 1
Monday, Sept. 10
• How to provide effective feedback about a scientific
talk
• Homework – Review Ted talk (due Friday, Sept. 7)
• Reading – Speaking of Science: Chapter 3
Wednesday, Sept. 12
• The art of breaking down messages
• How to prepare for speaking
• Homework – Review Ted talk (due Friday, Sept. 14)
• Reading – Speaking of Science: Chapter 4
Monday, Sept. 17
• Small group feedback on first presentations
Wednesday, Sept. 19
• First presentations
• Homework – Review of first presentations (due Friday,
Sept. 21)
Monday, Sept. 24
• First presentations
• Homework – Review of first presentations (due Friday,
Sept. 21)
Wednesday, Sept. 26
• First presentations
• Homework – Review of first presentations (due Friday,
Sept. 28)
Monday, Oct. 1
• First presentations
• Homework – Review of first presentations (due Friday,
Sept. 28)
Wednesday, Oct. 3
• Basic principles on giving a scientific talk to a lay
audience
• How to connect with your audience
• The principle of relaxed intensity
• Homework – Review of one set of first presentation
reviews (due Friday, Oct. 5)
• Reading – Speaking of Science: Chapter 5
**Tuesday, Oct. 9
• Example of general lay audience talk by Dr. Cameron
• Review of Dr. Cameron’s talk
• Homework – Chose paper for second presentation (due
Friday, Oct. 10)
• Arrange individual meetings with course instructor –
to review plans for Presentation 2
Monday, Oct. 15
• Guest lecture – Tim McMurray, M.Ed. Principles from
the science of education
• Reading - Speaking of Science: Chapter 6
Wednesday, Oct. 17
NO CLASS – prepare for presentation 2
Monday, Oct. 22
• Guest lecture – Lisa Barsom, Ph.D. (Executive Director
for Strategic Initiatives) Communicating science to a lay
audience: Strategies for success
Wednesday, Oct. 24
• Small group feedback on second presentations
Monday, Oct. 29
• Second presentations
• Homework – Review of second presentations (due
Friday, Oct. 26)
• Homework – Arrange for public presentation;
work in pairs on Presentation 3
Arrange for pair meeting with course instructor
BEFORE presentation 3
Wednesday, Oct. 31
• Second presentations
• Homework – Review of second presentations (due
Friday, Nov. 2)
Monday, Nov. 5
• Second presentations
• Homework – Review of second presentations (due
Friday, Nov. 2)
Wednesday, Nov. 7
• Second Presentations
• Homework – Review of second presentations (due
Friday, Nov. 9)
Monday, Nov. 12
• Second Presentations
• Homework – Review of second presentations (due
Friday, Nov. 9)
Wednesday, Nov. 14
• How to deal with adversity during a scientific
presentation
• Homework – Review of one set of second presentation
reviews (due Friday, Nov. 16)
• Reading – Speaking of Science: Chapter 7
Monday, Nov. 19
• Example of scientific talk under adverse conditions by
Dr. Cameron
• Review of Dr. Cameron’s talk
Wednesday, Nov. 21
• Practice answering contentious questions
Monday, Nov. 26
• Pointers on Media Questions and Answers
Wednesday, Nov. 28
• The art of effective poster presentation
• Reading – Speaking of Science: Chapter 8
Monday, Dec. 3
NO CLASS
Wednesday, Dec. 5
• Final Exam
Disability Resources and Services
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an
accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the
Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, 412-6487890/412-383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. Disability
Resources and Services will verify your disability and determine reasonable
accommodations for this course.
Academic Integrity Policy
Cheating/plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students suspected of violating the
University of Pittsburgh Policy on Academic Integrity, noted below, will be
required to participate in the outlined procedural process as initiated by the
instructor. A minimum sanction of a zero score for the quiz, exam or paper
will be imposed.
E-mail Communication Policy
Each student is issued a University e-mail address (username@pitt.edu)
upon admittance. This e-mail address may be used by the University for
official communication with students. Students are expected to read e-mail
sent to this account on a regular basis. Failure to read and react to
University communications in a timely manner does not absolve the student
from knowing and complying with the content of the communications. The
University provides an e-mail forwarding service that allows students to read
their e-mail via other service providers (e.g., Hotmail, AOL, Yahoo).
Students that choose to forward their e-mail from their pitt.edu address to
another address do so at their own risk. If e-mail is lost as a result of
forwarding, it does not absolve the student from responding to official
communications sent to their University e-mail address. To forward e-mail
sent to your University account, go to http://accounts.pitt.edu, log into your
account, click on Edit Forwarding Addresses, and follow the instructions
on the page. Be sure to log out of your account when you have finished. (For
the full E-mail Communication Policy, go to
www.bc.pitt.edu/policies/policy/09/09-10-01.html.)